de + article

Question

There is a sentence in the text:" les odeurs de cannelle et d'épices évoquent des souvenirs d'enfance"
 
I seem to get this wrong quite often - why is there no article after de in all of these cases (de cannelle, d'epices and d'enfance).
 
Thank you!

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Hi Lija,
Here, 'de' is a preposition and not a partitive, and prepositions are difficult to get right in a foreign language.
If you are interested, there's a very good free resource on prepositions by Grevisse which will illustrate the complexity I am talking about -
https://www.furet.com/media/pdf/feuilletage/9/7/8/2/8/0/7/3/9782807315709.pdf 
Also, Laura has an excellent lesson on examples when you might use an article after the preposition 'de'  -
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/de-vs-du-de-la-des-description/
In the cases that you quote the second word just describes what kind of smell it is and what kind of remembrance it is.
This is the kind of error French people will never make as they are instinctive but I do appreciate that this is a very difficult subject.
Hope this helps!

Jim Jones · Answer

Bonjour Iija,
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/nouns/
I think it is a matter of noun category (definite /indefinite /uncountable)  -- In this case, cinnamon and spices are uncountable so we simply comment about the aroma experience and use the preposition de (of) but without the e in the case of the épices for elision reasons.
Bonne continuation
Jim